Yesterday I received a media advisory email stating this: “New Guidelines Against Breast Self-Examination Could Seriously Endanger Women’s Health,” says Dr. Marisa Weiss, President and Founder of breastcancer.org.
New Danish guidelines advising the population not to perform BSEs are supported by a review – to be released later today – of BSE studies previously conducted in Russia and China. The review, co-authored by Dr. Peter Gotzsche, suggests that breast self-exams do not reduce deaths from cancer and “cannot be recommended.”
I requested a copy of the review so I could investigate the issue for you. Here’s the deal:
The review was conducted by …read more

Do you ever ask yourself any of these questions:

How many days ago did I open this can of tomato sauce?
How old is this milk?
How long has it been since I cleaned the fish tank?
Have I taken this antibiotic for ten days?
When was the last time I changed the filter on my cat’s litter box?
Am I due for a breast self exam ????????

Kathleen Whitehurst is a nine year breast cancer survivor. She and her business partner, Debbie Stephens Stauffer, invented a way to allow families to keep track of these and other lifestyle tasks. It’s called the DaysAgo digital day counter. …read more

Earlier today I posted about The Ryde’s new Charitees brand of t-shirts. In a follow-up email exchange I learned that The Ryde’s warehouse worker found some pre-cancerous growths under his breast plate at the doctor’s office a few weeks ago. It was well after their philanthropic initiative began, but it brought the entire initiative closer to home.
“Once we heard, we all started to put a little more effort into the project,” said Robb Bailey, web guy for The Ryde. FYI, Danny should be ok, he’s going into surgery in a few weeks to “nip it in the bud” and hopefully, …read more

Kylie Minogue’s recent announcement brought the issue of breast cancer misdiagnosis to the forefront.
The time of diagnosis matters when it comes to your breast cancer treatment. It matters greatly to your prognosis. The longer you walk around undetected, the worse things get for you, it’s that simple.
Anyway, to recap the latest headlines for you, Ms. Minogue was give an ‘all clear’ after a mammogram, but felt a lump herself just a few weeks later. Hearing that sure made me want to preach again about the importance of a routine BSE; if indeed you have breast cancer, a BSE can help …read more

A woman named Becky put this video together for a friend of hers going through her second bout with BC. As a two time survivor, I had to smile! She nailed it!

When she posted this on You Tube, she says the video “is also for anyone who needs a little support and positive thinking while going through this trying time. God Bless you all!”

Thanks Becky. Enjoy all!

I’m feeling it is important to share a public service announcement with you:
Once women are in their twenties, they should start giving themselves monthly breast self-exams (BSE). Many survivors discovered lumps in their breasts themselves; they feel they owe their lives to BSE. (By the way, if you want to share your story about this particular aspect of early diagnosis, I’d love to read about it. Just type it in the comment section below!)
Was it a BSE that saved my life? No. BSEs were completely foreign to me when I was younger. I was tuned in enough to my body …read more